From the perspective of the Roy Adaptation Model, the concept of family as a unit is
related to the scientific assumptions of the model on environment integration. Consciousness
and meaning are constitutive of person and environment integration (Roy, 2009). The
critically ill patient (person) is a part of the family first, the community, as well as society as
a whole. The person has a need to achieve relational integrity using the process of affectional
adequacy as the giving and receiving of love, respect and value, effective relations, and
communication. This specific need of the person is interdependence, an important mode
in the model, which can help in adaptation, thus achieving wholeness.